Nelson, Hogan 1942 playoff is one of Masters greatest moments

With America at war this would be the last playing of the Masters Tournament until after the cessation of hostilities. It would prove to be one of the most exciting ever, pitting Byron Nelson, the leading player then on Tour, in an 18-hole playoff against his childhood pal Ben Hogan, who had just begun to climb the heights.

In retrospect, the 1942 Masters was much, much more – ultimately it was a match between two players who would go on to become true goliaths of the game.

Uniquely Nelson and Hogan were both born in 1912, grew up together in Fort Worth, Texas, and caddied at Glen Garden Country Club, even playing against each other in the caddie championship. But as professionals, Nelson burst out of the gate first and had success quickly, winning the 1937 Masters, the 1939 U.S. Open, the 1940 PGA plus 17 other Tour events leading into the 1942 Masters. Hogan struggled mightily in his early years on Tour, initially fighting a vicious snap hook off the tee, before finally learning how to tame it. Finally, at the 1940 North South Open at Pinehurst, with just $36 left to his name, he broke through with a win. From there he went on a roll, winning the next two tournaments, and had won eight times coming into the 1942 Masters.

In the first round of the 1942 Masters, the 1934 and 1936 champion Horton Smith and two-time PGA champion Paul Runyan led the way with stellar five-under-par 67s. Nelson and ex-Yankee outfielder Sam Byrd were only one shot back at four under. Most impressively, tournament host Bobby Jones came out of retirement and made his annual appearance in his tournament and added a 72, giving hope to the partisans who recalled the glorious Grand Slam of just a dozen years earlier.

In the second round, Nelson added a 67 to take a one-stroke lead going into the weekend, but in tough windy conditions in the third round he eked out an even-par 72, putting well on the windswept and now devilishly-fast greens. Under the trying conditions, Hogan’s 5-under-par 67, just three back, was truly a masterful score. It was the low score of the day by four strokes over E.J. Harrison and Bobby Cruikshank.

The lead in the fourth round ebbed and flowed between the two childhood friends like Rae’s Creek after a thunder shower. Needing two pars to win, Nelson bogeyed the 17th from the front bunker. Now needing a birdie to win and a par to force an 18-hole playoff, Nelson pushed his tee shot into a dicey lie in the right trees. Somehow, he put his recovery shot onto the green 15 feet from the pin. Narrowly missing, he tapped his putt in for a par and a tie.

An 18-hole playoff was scheduled for Monday afternoon at 2:30. It would prove to be not only one of the greatest head-to-head battles in the Masters, but in golf history as well.

Playing before a gallery of 4,000, Nelson – after being up much of the night before with a stomach ailment –began the playoff with a double bogey on the first hole. Hogan made par.

On the downhill 525-yard par-5 second hole, Nelson placed his second shot 12 feet from the pin, two-putting for birdie. Hogan birdied as well and added another stoke on the long par-3 fourth as he parred to go three up after Nelson bogeyed. After both made pars on the tough uphill par-4 fifth with its plateaued green, Nelson went to work in earnest.

On the downhill par-3 sixth Nelson made birdie to Hogan’s bogey, closing to within one. Both parred the seventh.

The turnaround came on the uphill par-5 eighth as Nelson outdrove his childhood friend, hitting his blind second to within six feet and holed it for eagle. With an eagle and two birdies in seven holes, Nelson now led by one. Although it was nip and tuck the rest of the way, he would never relinquish the lead, and he increased it to two when Hogan bogeyed No. 10.

The second nine on the last day is usually the ultimate key, with the 11th, 12th and 13th holes being the most critical, even in the days before it was called Amen Corner. Nelson birdied all three, and Hogan dropped another shot behind despite birdies on Nos. 11 and 13.

On the par-4 14th, Hogan fought back with a birdie from 15 feet. On No. 15, Hogan made birdie as Nelson three-putted for par. Nelson’s lead was back to one stroke. It was still anyone’s ballgame, with the momentum now clearly in Hogan’s favor.

The par-3 16th proved to be the pivotal hole. Hogan, hitting first, pushed his tee shot into the right-hand bunker. Nelson, with his signature three-quarter full back-swing, hit one of the most pressure-packed shots of the tournament as his tee shot ended up 30 inches from the hole. Hogan came out of the bunker, but two-putted for a bogey. Surprisingly, Nelson missed the little putt, but went two up with his par with two to play.

With both players making par on 17, Nelson held a two-stroke lead on the 18th tee. Nelson hit a big drive through the fairway into what was then described as rough. Hogan’s drive was wild to the right and his second ended up in the bunker fronting the green. Nelson’s second was short into the same bunker. Both came out to about eight feet. Nelson, putting first, putted to tap-in range as Hogan ran his in for par.

The final score: Nelson 69, Hogan 70.

Nelson would later say this was the best 17 holes of golf he ever played.

Just as wiry 10-year-old Hogan lost by one stroke to lanky Nelson in an 18-hole playoff for the caddie championship at Glen Garden, 20 years later a 30-year-old Hogan lost once again to his friend Nelson by one stroke in the playoff for the 1942 Masters, arguably the most exciting head-to-head 18 holes of all time.

But instead of winning an old wooden-shafted 5-iron, Nelson won his second Masters .